March24, 2006

 Over the weekend I saw Aldo Perez play with a full band. I've seen him play 2 or 3 times before, but only with the conga playing guy. This time around there was the conga guy, a drummer, two horns (kiku collins on trumpet was amazing) a bassist, and aldo... hot damn...

All I can tell you, is that this is one of the most amazing shows you can catch in NYC. Go see him as soon as you can... prepare for a spiritual cleansing... your face WILL hurt... its so worth it

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Aldo Perez is a musician, songwriter, singer, poet, actor, dancer, 50% comedian, 50% clown, 50% guru, a one-man opera production, a cosmic singularity. In truth, Aldo Perez, a.k.a. Renaldo The and Pompous Ass and Psycho The Clown, is a genius. For only a genius would introduce a song with the words

I wrote this song last summer, and I hope you do too.

Aldo Perez performs every other Friday at  The Living Room (154 Ludlow St., b/w Stanton and Rivington, tel. 212-533-7235), usually in a trio formation with drummer Richard Ginocchio (a.k.a. Valet and Fabrizio Fabriculo and The Pimp Behind The Wheel) and trumpeter Kiku Collins (a.k.a. Ninja Princess), but sometimes with other members too of the larger Psycho The Clown Band.

If you've never seen their show, I urge you to go. You can watch some video clips, first, or download a few songs, or read a raving review. But nothing can replace the experience of partaking in an Aldo Perez show--I should know, I must have gone 25 times since serendipity made me discover Aldo in 2003.

You'll thank me for this!--Or you'll hate me, if you don't see the poetry in

Ten pounds of poo
would have to resolve in your head to be true

Let me finish by saying, in all seriousness, that this will likely be the best played music you've heard in a while. Not many of the reviews in Aldo's web site emphasize this enough, and even fewer pay due homage to the great Richard Ginocchio and the gorgeous and talented Kiku Collins.

Blog MARCO NYC  http://marconyc.blogspot.com

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On the way out of the club, we met up with mike's friend jimmy.
he took us up through alphabet city, where we dropped in on a
crazy and great show by aldo perez at the living room. when I
say he's crazy, I mean, I think he's truly crazy. hard to explain
the show but there were toy megaphones, classical guitars,
hip-hop M.C.-ing, a trumpet player, bad jokes
("I once had sex with a model... the glue got _everywhere_!"),
a classic rock medley, a song about insomnia, and a plethora of
weird facial expressions. quite an evening. welcome to new york.

The Nadas Daily Blog

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Hi, I luckily wondered into the Living Room last night, and saw one of the most entertaining shows I have ever seen.  I’ve been through the meat grinder in the music industry, A&R at Elektra, signed to EMI as an artist, blah blah blah…  but rarely do I see entertainment like that.  I’m a fan, if I can ever help, or if you ever want to hang, hit me up.  Have you ever thought about doing a New England Tour?

email from                                                                                                           Jimmy Landry
 

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Some friends of mine and I stumbled on your show at the Living Room on April 15th.  Our friend, Vered, was playing right before you.  Everyone we were with hated, was offended, or just confused by your act, but my roommate Christian and I saw the light.  We talked your show up for 2 weeks until your last performance a week ago, and still only managed to get one person to join us.  A Germanic beauty named Iris joined us and was dying of laughter the entire time as well.  A few other friends came to meet us and left after less than one song.  I can’t think of any other act that inspires such strong reactions in the people I know.

email from Casey Kelbaugh                                                                                                        

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PSYCHO THE CLOWN
"Tavern's Clowning Glory"
Reviewed by Dan Aquilante for The New York Post

Sometimes when planets collide there's nothing left but the ashes- and sometimes strange new worlds are created. Monday, at Tavern on the Green, a posh Central Park eatery, uptown uppity and downtown dirty- in the form of the "alternative" band Psycho The Clown- crashed into each other in a magnificently bizarre head-on. The scene was guys in jackets and ties, ladies in slinky dresses, candlelight, fine wine and good food- civilization to the max rules the Chestnut Room. The occasion was the Tavern's new Monday Night Showcase, a weekly event designated to bring younger, hipper clientele into the verdant venue. You probably have heard of the category "alternative music" but until you see Psycho The Clown, the term in meaningless. The four-piece band- percussion, bass, violin and chief clown Aldo Perez on guitar- plays a strange brand of funk-laden rock, spiced with Latin rhythms. One day Aldo will be a star. He's not only very talented, but he's willing to do absolutely anything on stage to engage the audience. He's part David Byrne, part Jim Carrey and one of the most unique citizens of Skyscraper Park. In one of the stranger moments, while the band was wailing on the flamenco- inspired rocker that could have fit into the Rusted Root songbook, loose- limbed Perez started dancing and singing in tongues. It was almost Spanish, maybe Italian, with the cadence of a Sioux warrior attempting to rap. Like every great live musical performance, excitement was generated not only by songs but by the unpredictability of the event. It was as of no one, including merry prankster Aldo, really what was going to happen next. The result was a terrific blend of comedy and music in a very elegant setting.

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The last time i saw this trio, the audience - myself included - had tears of joy streaming down our grinning cheeks for at least a solid hour. I can't begin to describe what you'll experience, suffice it to say i've rarely been so entertained since I moved to NYC.

by Green Street Salon October 6, 2004
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Renaldo, The Mystic

Late last night Ann, Kim, Rob, Brian S. & I were this close to calling it a night before we poked our heads in the Living Room. There we saw one of the greatest shows I've seen in years, Renaldo, The Mystic, fronted by Aldo Perez. How to describe this? Well -- what struck me first was this dude Perez looked like the love child of John Waters and Jim Carrey. And was about as funny as both of them. A natural, gifted physical comedian, dude would just kinda make a weird face and crack me up. But his style of performance was so radical, so ten-steps-ahead of itself, that I didn't so much laugh as sit there with my face frozen in awe. If Lenny Bruce ever decided to do a circus act, this would be it. What did he do, exactly? I can't even tell you. Some of it involved a talking picture of Vincent Van Gogh. But it was mostly fragments of ideas erupting nonstop. He would interrupt himself because a syllable of one word reminded him of something else. (The word "he" took an unexplained, unexpected left turn into a Native American war chant for a few minutes.) But here comes the surprise. THIS ISN'T A COMEDY ACT. It took me a minute to realize this, but Perez and The Mystic Renaldo The are actually fantastic musicians. They pretty much do one song, then interrupt themselves with shtick (yelling at the drummer, for example) but the songs are fantastic. Perez has a gorgeous, dynamic, rich voice (reminded Ann of Freddie Mercury; maybe so, but less, how should I put this, less gay?) and is a guitar whiz, playing in rock, classical and Spanish modes. He also plays piano, electric bass and sings in fluent Spanish. The band is rounded out by a drummer who maintained an angry scowl the whole time while wearing an absurd bling-bling necklace and a female trumpeter who's schtick was to look baffled most of the time. Many of the songs were originals -- soulful, moody songs in wonderful contrast to the antics preceeding them -- but other highlights were a country version of "Walk This Way" and "Stairway To Heaven" as sung by Bruce Lee. Plus one of the more filthy raps I've heard (not knowing too much about gangsta rap, I couldn't tell if this was a cover or not -- either way, Perez lost himself in his "Muthafuckers!" the way a tenor would in an aria.) They play again in 2 weeks.

Posted by Jordan at April 11, 2004 01:25 PM